February 9, 2009

Think Green!!

Green! Green is one of my top 10 favorite colors :) Its a go to neutral for me, BUT that's not the kind of Green I was talking about.

So as paper crafters we tend to use a lot of....wait for it, PAPER:) Duh! But how many of us recycle our scraps or really think about where our trash is going? I know that some of us are greener than others, but this week I really want to get us thinking about the three R's, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Reducing is kind of hard for us paper hoarders. But one easy way of reducing just me has just been thinking about what kind of adhesive I use. I used to use the red Duck adhesive. Its a grand adhesive, but every time I finished a roll, the whole thing went into the trash. Consider using a refillable adhesive, but watch out, some of the refillable adhesives use just as much plastic on their refill as they do on their main dispenser. I use Mono Multi Liquid glue. It is not refillable, but I can get a LOT more use out of a small bottle of that as I can out of my old tape dispenser.

Recycle. I'll be talking more about recycling this week. But for starters, I keep two trash bins by my desk. One for paper/chipboard recycling, and one for trash I know won't be recycled. One thing I suggest is that you find out what things your recyclers will take. I know that mine will only take certain kinds of plastic. So that goes into the regular trash.

Reuse. Reuse. Reuse. This is my favorite of the three R's. I use paper packaging on cards a LOT!!! The trend in scrapbook packaging is to print part of the pattern of the line onto the chipboard backing. A lot of the chipboard backers are the exact size of cards or can easily be cut down to card size. Also you know how our lovely kit are packed in paper bags. A lot of our DT has been using those bags in their projects, as paper, as mini books, for bows! Look at what is sitting on your desk, and think outside your box. I bet there's a project sitting in your trash bag, and you didn't even know it.

My challenge to you this week, is to make a project with repurposed materials. They can me packaging or anything else. Add it to the Studio Calico gallery and post your link here. Your due date is February 16th. Let me see how you can turn trash into treasure!

I used one of the backers from the Making Memories Love Notes Alphabets to make this card!

I was already planning this page when I read your challenge...this was a lot of fun! I am definitely going to keep challenging myself to do more, rgreener layouts. Thanks for the inspiration. So, here's my first!http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/7600

Love this idea & your card! I'll just have to keep the backing when I'm finished too. Here is a Valentine card I made for my hubby out of a Heidi Swapp XL photo corners packaging. I had tons of fun! http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/7623